A daily update of what is healthy, natural and beautiful at the '3rd Best Spa in America'

BOGO is BACK! ESSpa Kozmetika will open from 11:30pm Thanksgiving Night until 2am – to accommodate customers searching for the best Holiday Gifts (and the Biggest Deals) of the Season. And don’t worry about rain or snow, if the weather is bad – we will open the doors early so you can stay warm and dry.

But before we get to that, I want you to see just what this event is like. Since 1 picture is worth 1000 words, we figure that this video should be very Melville-esque.

Nationally-recognized as “The 3rd Best Spa in America” by The Industry Source, Pittsburgh’s skincare institution will open after Thanksgiving Dinner and start the shopping all-nighter with its iconic Cardapalooza Buy One Get One Deal and a host of other special deals.

“Black Friday is our biggest event of the year,” said Eva Kerschbaumer, Founder, CEO and Esthetic Director for ESSpa Kozmetika. “This will be the 8th year for our Black Friday BOGO Event and every year we have seen more and more customers taking advantage of these special deals so this year we’re really pulling out all the stops for them to save, have fun and be healthy.”

In the past, ESSpa Kozmetika opened its doors in the earlier morning on Black Friday. For 2011, Eva and her husband Scott will open the doors just after Thanksgiving Dinner to provide this unique healthy BOGO opportunity to more people than ever before. “We asked our guests what they would prefer,” said Scott Kerschbaumer, COO and Director of Marketing. “We set up an online poll and responded to our customers’ request to open earlier than past years. Beginning at 11:30pm, when someone buys a Gift Card, we will give them an additional 100% Bonus Gift Certificate.”

According to the Owners and customers of previous ESSpa Black Friday Events, there are no limits to how much (or how little) a customer can spend. For instance, if someone buys a $1000 Gift Card they will receive a Free $1000 Bonus Certificate. Or, if someone buys a $25 Gift Card they will receive a Free $25 Bonus Certificate. It is an honest-to-goodness, 100%, 1 for 1 match.

ESSpa Kozmetika will offer other special Gift Card deals on Black Friday when the spa opens for regular hours at 10am. The Kerschbaumers also said that 25 customers will also have the ability to purchase Buy One Get One Free Spa Club Memberships – allowing the lucky purchasers to save thousands of dollars and enjoy a full year of treatments for a fraction of their regular price.

ESSpa will continue to have additional sales throughout Black Friday that will continue until the close of business at 8pm for purchasers of standard Gift Cards and their exclusive organic creams, masks and serums – and new for 2010 will be specials deals on recycled, eco-chic items from the WineBottleCandleCompany.com.

When asked why someone in a turkey-dinner-induced coma would visit a dayspa at Midnight, Mr. Kerschbaumer said “When you can come out to a local dayspa at Midnight, spend $100 and walk out with hundreds of dollars worth of Free Bonus Certificates, that is a deal worth staying up for!”

IMPORTANT EVENT DETAILS:

•Only the first 152 people in the door (plus those who have RSVP’d here) will be allowed to take advantage of this DEAL. Please plan to arrive early to ensure you are allowed to enter and participate – Don’t get left out in the cold!
•Complimentary Refreshments and Entertainment will be provided for your enjoyment.
•You must visit the spa in person to take advantage of this offer.
•Be sure to study obscure 1980’s pop music and movies to win Scott’s random trivia contests.
•Please note that you cannot use existing Gift Cards to make BOGO Event purchases.
•Those wishing to spend $1000 or more and those interested in Spa Club Memberships will receive special consideration and should call 412-782-3888 for details.
•Call 412-782-3888 for more information.
•We look forward to seeing you, you are the best customers and we truly appreciate your support!
•BTW – We are going to give away a brand new iPad to 1 lucky winner.

PS – If you really don’t want to wait (or are going to be out of town) then we offer this exclusive Exclusive BOGO Pre-Sale Opportunity.

ESSpa Kozmetika Organic Skincare Special Deal

The 2011 Thanksgiving Holiday BOGO Pre-Sale: Spend More + Sleep InGet a jump on your Holiday Shopping and your Health for 2011 with a Special Offer for those who want to spend a bit more but can’t or don’t want to come and see us after Turkey Dinner. Beginning Monday Nov. 14th until 2am on Friday Nov. 25th, you can purchase a $900 BOGO Gift Card in advance. You will then Immediately receive an additional $900 FREE Bonus Certificate for you to enjoy the best spa treatments in town. Without a doubt, this is the best deal in town. Don’t let it pass you by!

BTW – Forward this email to your friends and if they buy this BOGO we will send YOU an Extra $30 for EACH referral purchase! So send this email to everyone you know – because this Bonus has no limits but it won’t last long!

On June 10th, more than 40 of the region’s most successful entrepreneurs and business experts will gather to share advice and stories with more than 450 attendees at the 12th annual Entrepreneur’s Growth Conference at Duquesne University. The event is one of the largest entrepreneurship events in Pennsylvania and features the region’s top entrepreneurs, workshops on the hottest topics in business and a vast array of business-building resources.

Ed Stack, CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc., and Roger Byford, CEO of Vocollect, will headline the event as keynote speakers. One of the event’s 15 workshop features a trip of headline-making entrepreneurs who will share how they’re grown their businesses and some of their biggest mistakes. J.C. Carter, President of Wrecking Crew Media, Scott Kerschbaumer, CEO of ESSpa Kozmetika & Spa 101 and Galadriel Strauser, Owner of Simply Clean are teaming up to lead Inspirational Success Stories from Entrepreneurs on the Rise.

The 14 other featured workshops are designed to help attendees (from start-up through growth stages) lower business taxes and increase sales, turn their new product ideas into a business, raise capital, turn their website into their #1 seller, leverage search engines and social networks to find customers, protect business investments, building wealth, use advertising, networking and digital PR for growth and much more.

“Our attendees have come to expect keynote speakers of the highest caliber and this year will be no exception. They are true pioneers in their respective industries,” says Dr. Mary T. McKinney, director of Duquesne’s Small Business Development Center and lead organizer of the event.

One of the event’s most popular features is the Business Building Tradeshow & Networking Mixer that provides the opportunity for attendees to meet representatives from more than 40 of the region’s entrepreneurial support organizations, see hands-on demonstrations and helpful products and services, and visit the Capital Corner, a section dedicated to helping entrepreneurs find funding.

For a complete list of speakers, workshops and registration information, visit http://www.egc.duq.edu or call 412.396.6233.

I am not sure how I found the link to this (I get over 300 emails every day about all kinds of things that direct me to all kinds of different stories, links and websites) but for some reason, this particular video grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. Most of us recognize Jamie Oliver from TV (I think he is the Naken Chef guy). He is kind of the anti-Gordon Ramsey. I always liked his “down-home” charm and the way he carries himself (very approachable) so I was intrigued to see what he could possibly be up to that would win a TED prize.

For those who don’t know, TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader. The global TED Conference, held annually in the spring, is the heart of TED (there are other TED conferences held on a regional level). More than a thousand people now attend, the event sells out a year in advance, and the content has expanded to include science, business, the arts and the global issues facing our world. Over four days, 50 speakers each take an 18-minute slot, and there are many shorter pieces of content, including music, performance and comedy. There are no breakout groups. Everyone shares the same experience. It shouldn’t work, but it does. It works because all of knowledge is connected. Every so often it makes sense to emerge from the trenches we dig for a living, and ascend to a 30,000-foot view, where we see, to our astonishment, an intricately interconnected whole.

So back to Jamie Oliver and his “wish”. I think the best way to describe it is to take a moment and listen to Jamie explain it himself. Please, please, please – I implore you to indulge me and listen to this short video. It is filled with information that is absolutely essential to living a healthy life and helping others do the same. I wanted to bring this to your attention because as much as we care about making people look and feel great, ESSpa Kozmetika Organic Skincare can only do so much “exterior” work. Facials, Massages, Manicures, Pedicures, Etc. are all great things that (when properly applied) can help you really be healthier. But if you are constantly filling your insides with pounds of foodstuffs that are not healthy (or in some cases 100% synthetic), then everything that we can do to help you on the outside is being undermined from the inside BY YOU. It just doesn’t make sense so I was enthralled when I saw Jamie’s video and very pleased to hear that he won the 2010 TED prize.

Here is the video of Jamie Oliver’s prize winning presentation:

I have to tell you that beginning around June of 2009, I really was not feeling well AND I was putting on some extra pounds and adding some inches to my waistline. The problem was (and still is) that I LOVE TO EAT, and I have always been able to eat everything and anything I wanted at any time without worrying about gaining any weight (I was a good althelete with a high-metabolism). So beginning that summer, overnight I decided to stop eating red meat and highly processed foods like pizza, pasta, deserts and fried foods. After talking to some knowledgable people, I fine-tuned this new diet to include 100% locally-raised, grass-fed beef and lamb from Pittsburgh area farms, cut out almost all chicken, eat fish and seafood when I am out at restaurants and started making smoothies out of everything I could get my hands on. BTW – the next post I will do will include me making a smoothie because anyone can duplicate my process and it works incredible well.

The result of all of this is that I lost about 20 pounds (I now weigh less than I did when I was 18) am back down to a 33 inch waistline and (most important of all) I feel more energetic and healthier. Added bonus, I don’t eat out as much and I spend a lot less on food (Since I basicaaly am throwing everything into a blender and drinking smoothies everyday).

So, once again in case you missed it, I urge you to watch Jamie Oliver’s TED video and make a promise to yourself to change the way you think about (and eat) the food you are putting in your (and your kids) mouth. We are definately going to start including more of these types of tips and strategies in our Spa Experiences because our mission is much more than just looking better, the mission at ESSpa Kozmetika Organic Skincare is all about BEING better.

First allow me to say on behalf of my wife, and ESSpa Kozmetika CEO, Eva and all of team-members and other stakeholders – THANK YOU (times infinity) to every single one of our guests who have visited our spa (in person or virtually via our website) over the last 8 years. It is because of your generousity, friendship and trust that ESSpa Kozmetika has been able to grow and continues to innovate and lead while staying true to our traditions.

To celebrate 8 years of operating a (we think) successful business, Eva and I decided to spend the anniversary of our original opening date (02/02/02) with an intensive, all-day educational training seminar with a group of executives, cast-members and facilitators from the Disney Institute. These incredible people generously shared their processes, programs and protocols (plus a little magic) that the Walt Disney Company uses to create the best customer experience on planet earth.

What does this mean to you. It means that Eva and I and our entire team of spa professionals will not rest on our laurels or our international awards. We are not satisfied with being named the “Best in Pittsburgh” or even the “3rd Best Spa in America”. It means that Eva and I will go to unusual degrees to ensure that every time a guest walks through our doors (or calls us on the phone, or visits our website) WE will exceed their expectations.

So, as we say thank you for helping us achieve 8 years of growth and success, we also say to all who are listening – “wait til you see what we are going to do tomorrow.” To reinforce our feelings about this, I invite you to watch the short video below.

Right, so every year we close ESSpa Kozmetika Organic Skincare for the first week to make a few improvements to our spa. To many, with only 5 days available in the middle of winter, you might think that the improvements would be minor little fixes. To those who know us, well lets just say we are a little bit crazy – because we basically blow up the entire place and build entirely new additions to our spa……..each and every year. And to really make us (and everyone who help us) go absolutely nuts, we do this all in 7 days or less (this year we started work on January 4th and reopened for business on January 11th) AND we really don’t write down any concrete plans (I do plan things out in my head but I hate writing things down – because I am king of the procrastinators and a little bit lazy). And besides, like I keep saying to my builders, as long as they keep finishing on time what the ideas in my head are, why do I need to waste time writing things down?

So take a moment and watch this lovely video as Eva takes you on a tour of the storm before the calm as we remodel ESSpa Kozmetika into Version 8.0.

Two weeks ago we completely gutted and remodeled our pedicure area during our week-long New Year vacation. The finished result was a beautiful room complete with glass mosaic tiles; a vintage fireplace mantle; a 12 foot high, dry-stack stone chimney and deep, colorful, sari-like cushions. Everything was perfect………except one small thing. The dimensions of the “stadium seating” area were off just enough to make it next to impossible for the pedicure specialists to comfortably polish our spa guest’s feet. So what do we do. Other places might try to “band-aid” the problem by using recliners or extra pillows or such. But that is not good enough for ESSpa Kozmetika. So Sunday night, beginning at 5pm, our crew of dedicated construction professionals from Krain Construction will arrive en masse prepared to completely rebuild the pedicure seating area in such a way to make everyone (both guests and staff) able to enjoy our pedicures as much as possible. You might ask why the crew is showing up to start work at 5pm on a Sunday. The answer is that we are opened for regular business hours on Sundays from 11am until 5pm. And considering that we will reopen for our regular business hours at 10am Monday morning, Sunday night is going to be one long, stressful yet ultimately rewarding moment in time.

I will film it for you as I am sure that Eva, Chris “The Englishman” Bladen (our good friend and helpful handyman [and financial guru]) and the Krain crew will provide hours of exciting action and commentary for your entertainment.

So check back soon and see how this most recent project turns out – there are lots of moving pieces and everyone has a theory of what exactly we should do so it really should be an interesting night.

Hello All. 2009 turned out to be our best year ever and as tradition would have it, ESSpa Kozmetika will be temporarily closing our doors from January 1st until January 10th to give our Staff some well-deserved time-off and allow us to continue to add to already unique and welcoming physical plant.

Here are some of the things that we will be working on during the break:

Adding a new treatment room.

Remodeling and repainting existing treatment rooms.

Upgrading all equipment in all treatment rooms.

Remodeling and upgrading the pedicure salon.

Upgrading our technology with the addition of new, high-speed computers, new phones and other new equipment to enhance guest relations and improve your ESSpa experience.

And there will surely be a few other additions that you will just have to keep an eye out for when we reopen next week.

Thank you again for a very successful 2009 and here is to an even more enchanting 2010.

On Saturday, December 4th – ESSpa Kozmetika Organic Skin Care & Spa welcomed Cynthia and her mom and her Aunt to our spa for 4 hours of relaxing, pampering and a healthy break after the excitment of meeting and practicing with the Super Bowl Champion Steelers at their facility on Pittsburgh’s South Side. Cyndie is an amazing, sweet and gracious young lady who has been fighting lukemia. The KidsWish Network received Cydie’s wish to meet the Pittsburgh Steelers and sent her and her family to visit Pittsburgh and spend the weekend with the team and enjoy a wonderful trip together. We are honored that KidWish selected ESSpa Kozmetika as the place to send Cyndie and her family after meeting the team to relax and enjoy the rest of her trip to Pittsburgh. It was a very special treat for us to meet someone of Cyndie’s caliber and we send to her and her family our most sincere wishes for a long and happy life and for a very Merry Christmas and even Happier New Year. Thank you KidsWish and God Bless you Cyndie.

PRLog (Press Release) – Nov 21, 2009 – “The 3rd Best Spa in America” will offer deals from midnight until 2 a.m. and from 9am until 8pm to accommodate customers throughout the big shopping day.

PITTSBURGH (ESSpa.com) — For some Black Friday shoppers, 7 years of opening at 4 a.m. just wasn’t early enough, so ESSpa Kozmetika Organic Spa has upped the ante.

The nationally-known skincare establishment announced it will open its Aspinwall location at midnight after Thanksgiving Dinner and start the shopping all-nighter with its iconic Cardapalooza Buy One Get One Deal and a host of other special Gift sales.

“Black Friday is our biggest single sales day of the year,” said Eva Kerschbaumer, Founder, CEO and Esthetic Director for ESSpa Kozmetika. “This will be our 7th year for our Black Friday BOGO Event and every year we have seen more and more customers taking advantage of these special deals so this year we’re really pulling out all the stops for them to save and live healthy.”

For the past 6 years, ESSpa Kozmetika has opened its doors at the crack of dawn on Black Friday. This year, Eva and her husband Scott will open the doors at 12 Midnight to provide this unique healthy BOGO opportunity to more people than ever before. “We asked our guests what they would prefer,” said Scott Kerschbaumer, COO and Director of Marketing. “We set up an online poll and responded to our customers’ request to open earlier than past years. Beginning at 12:01am, when someone buys a Gift Card, we will give them an additional 100% Bonus Gift Certificate.”

According to the Spa Owners and customers of previous Black Friday Events, There are no limits to how much (or how little) a customer can spend. If someone buys a $1000 Gift Card they will receive a $1000 Bonus Certificate.

ESSpa Kozmetika will offer other special Gift Card BOGO deals on Black Friday when the spa opens for regular hours at 9am. The Kerschbaumers also said that the first 25 customers will also have the ability to purchase Buy One Get One Free Spa Club Memberships.

ESSpa will continue to have additional sales throughout Black Friday that will extend until the close of business at 8pm, such as 50% and 30% Buy One Get One Free Bonus Certificates for purchasers of standard Gift Cards..

And another new offering this year designed to leverage the social networks of its clients, this local spa will also provide 4 complimentary Gift Invitation Cards, to everyone who buys a Gift Card between Midnight and 2am.

When asked why someone in a turkey-dinner-induced coma would visit a dayspa at Midnight, Mr. Kerschbaumer said “When you can come out to a local dayspa at Midnight, spend $100 and walk out with $420 in Free Bonus Certificates, that is a deal worth staying up for!”

What makes ESSpa Kozmetika Organic Skincare so successful and keeps our guests both happy AND coming back again and again? It is a combination of many things but at the end of the day IT comes down to one very important thing above all others. IT is our TEAM. Comprised of professionals from all over the reiong, country and the world, our staff is absolutely the BEST in the business. Our team of highly-trained therapists exceed the highest expectations and would be welcome additions at any spa in the world (in fact, many of our therapists have come to us from some of the most well-known spa resorts in the world). Therapists come to us because Eva takes the time to teach them her unique and ultra-effective Hungarian methods and because we have created a fun, friendly atmosphere where the best in the world can thrive without stress and a corporate mentality. I invite you to watch this short video that includes only a few of our great employees. AND to them, Eva and I say “THANK YOU!”